Bill Center

Writer

Bill has covered sports for the U-T since 1967. He has been involved in covering the Padres since 1983 with that being his primary assignment since 1995. Center is also the newspaper’s lead motorsports reporter (since 1976) and boating writer (since 1969). Over more than four-and-a-half decades with the newspaper, Center has also covered San Diego State, soccer, boxing, the Chargers, USD and the preps. He has been on site for the 1984 Olympics, two soccer World Cups, both World Series involving the Padres, eight America’s Cups in sailing, more than 60 major title fights, 35 Indy 500s and 38 Rose Bowls, in addition to five Super Bowls. He is a past president of the Baseball Writers Association of America. A San Diegan since 1950, Center attended San Diego State.

Recent Articles

Two Grade I stakes — today’s Hollywood Derby and Sunday’s Matriarch Stakes — will highlight the final weekend of Del Mar’s third fall meeting. The Hollywood Derby will cover 11/8 miles on the turf and the field of a dozen 3-year-olds will be evenly divided between six West Coast and six horses...

With Flavien Pratt out for the final weekend of Del Mar’s fall season, the riding championship of the 15-day meeting is up for grabs. But Peter Miller has all but clinched the trainer title with the final weekend to go. Through Thursday’s 12th day of racing in the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club’s Bing...

Two horses were euthanized and leading jockey Flavien Prat was injured when his third-race ride stumbled leaving the gate Sunday as the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club raced with an “off” track for only the fourth time since 1982. Trixie Topper in the first race and Trump Diesel in the fifth were each...

Drayden Van Dyke says he will never forget Saturday at the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club. One, for the first time in his career, the 22-year-old jockey won two stakes races in the same day — aboard Journey Home ($17.80) in the Grade III Jimmy Durante Stakes and Ring Weekend ($8) in the $200,000 Grade...

The odds could really be against Om and With Honors if, as expected, they go off as favorites in the two stakes races today at Del Mar. Favorites — some at very short odds — have won only one of the first seven stakes during Del Mar’s fall meeting. The upsets continued Friday as Texas Ryano rallied...

Del Mar might have its first entry for next year’s Breeders’ Cup. “We want to come back,” trainer Makoto Saito said through an interpreter Thursday afternoon after Nuovo Record caught even-money favorite Arles in the final strides on the turf to win the 1½-mile, $100,000, Grade III Red Carpet Handicap...

When Jimmie Johnson first climbed into a NASCAR Sprint Cup car in 2001, he had a number he was chasing. It wasn’t seven championships. It wasn’t 80 race wins. It was one. “I wanted to win one race,” Johnson said Monday via telephone. “I thought if I won one race, they’d keep me around for a couple...

When trainer Peter Miller saw Solid Wager heading down the backstretch of the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club on Sunday afternoon, he doubted the chances of the 5-year-old gelding defending his title in the Cary Grant Stakes. “At first I was cussing (jockey) Victor (Espinoza), wondering why he was so...